When can I play?

Highgate has some of the best tennis facilities in the area, including 9 floodlit hard courts and 3 shale courts at Brookside. 5 main club courts are situated outside the club house and four ‘school’ courts by the school. There are activities all week and all year round.

Social tennis

Turn up, play and mix in with other members for doubles. All levels can join in and it’s a great way to meet people at the club. You provide the tennis, the club provides the balls. If you are new, just introduce yourself by the benches and someone will help you mix in. If you bring a guest, please pay the visitors fee at the bar and sign the visitor’s book.

Times of social tennis vary in autumn/winter and spring/summer – see below for the days and times:

Spring / summer social: (May – September)

Tuesday: 7pm – late

Thursday: 7pm – late

Saturday: 2pm-6pm

Sunday: 2pm-6pm

Autumn / winter social: (October – March)

Saturday: 1pm-5pm

Sunday: 1pm-5pm

Pre-arranged play

Members can also play ladders, practice or arrange their own fours outside club sessions in the open play sessions shown on the court schedule. If other people are waiting for a court you are asked to vacate courts after one hour, unless you are finishing a ladder..

The school courts can be used during any free play sessions (light grey shading) on the court schedule. During term time the main courts are available for open play as follows:

Saturday & Sunday until 1pm (2pm in summer) & from 5.00pm (6.00pm in summer) to 10.30pm

Monday to Friday until 4pm

Outside these hours there is some limited availability – please check court schedule.

In school holidays junior coaching camps may be taking place during the day time. This will vary from week to week.– please check court schedule for details. Two of the main courts are always available for members’ use, except when it’s wet. See Wet Weather Policy for more information.

Booking a court

There are very few slots when members can book courts. This is because one of the strengths of the club is its friendly atmosphere and focus on encouraging members to turn up and play, socialise and “mix in”. However, in the winter months there are a few slots on Wednesdays when you can book a court. It’s always best to look at the court schedule to see what’s available and when. If you’d like to book one of the available court slots please email us.

Floodlights

All of our courts apart from Brookside (shale courts) are floodlit. Lights are free during social tennis, at other times you can buy a token at the bar and insert these into the floodlight box of the court you want to play on. Floodlight boxes for the main courts are under the stairs and school courts are by the same cupboard. Each token costs £2.50 and lasts for 30 minutes and a warning light comes on when you have five minutes to go. You may want to buy a few tokens and keep them in case the bar is closed.

Clubhouse

Sometimes the door to the clubhouse is locked and alarmed (out of hours) and you won’t be able to get in. If the door has simply shut, you will need to type in a code into the keypad, which is the same code that you use to access the members list.

First Aid

There is a first aid kit in both the main clubhouse, and at the Brookside clubhouse (when open). Please see the noticeboards for details of the club firs aiders, the nearest pharmacy and the route to the closest hospital.

Tournaments

Highgate has a very active tournament calendar – go to the competitions page for more details

What else do I need to know?

Highgate has a friendly attitude to playing. We like competition, but we expect players to be courteous and respect rules and etiquette. For more info, see our Code of Conduct and etiquette info as well as the rules of tennis. We also expect members to dress accordingly on court. We don’t demand whites, but it does mean proper footwear and clothing. For more info, see our Court Etiquette and Code of Conduct.